Photosynthesis and circadian rhythms regulate the buoyancy of marimo lake balls (Curr. Biol.)

Marimo are aggregations of the filamentous green macroalga Aegagropila linnaei. They grow in lake beds in Japan, Iceland and Ukraine and are can rise to the lake surface after becoming buoyant. In this paper, Cano-Ramirez et al. showed that this movement is the product of the formation of air bubbles by photosynthesis. Given that photosynthesis is controlled by the light-dark cycles, the authors suggested and demonstrated that the floatability of marimo is controlled by the circadian rhythm in response to light. (Summary by Aime Jaskolowski) Curr. Biol. 10.1016/j.cub.2018.07.027